Ancient World
Kalinga War (261 BC): The Conquest That Transformed Ashoka
Kalinga was annexed to the Maurya Empire; Ashoka, by his own account, renounced wars of conquest and promoted dhamma.
Era · c. 3000 BC – AD 500
Ancient World
The first cities, empires and written records, from the pyramids of Egypt to Greece and the Roman Empire.
Ancient World
Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya: Site of the Buddha's Awakening
The place of the Buddha's enlightenment became Buddhism's holiest site, crowned by one of the earliest surviving brick temples in India, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Ancient World
Edicts of Ashoka: India's Earliest Deciphered Inscriptions
More than thirty inscriptions preserve the Maurya emperor's own words, forming the earliest readable body of writing from South Asia.
Ancient World
Battle of Mylae (260 BC): The Corvus and Rome's First Naval Win
Roman victory; Carthage lost around 45 to 50 ships and Duilius celebrated Rome's first naval triumph.
Ancient World
Dujiangyan Irrigation System: Li Bing's 2,200-Year-Old Waterworks
The system controlled Min River floods, irrigated the Chengdu Plain and made Sichuan one of China's richest farming regions; it remains in use.
Ancient World
Battle of Cape Ecnomus (256 BC): A Giant Naval Clash of Antiquity
Roman victory; the Carthaginian fleet lost about 94 ships and the Romans landed an army in Africa.
Ancient World
Nisa: The Early Royal City of the Parthian Arsacid Kings
Nisa became one of the earliest royal centres of the Parthian Empire, and its excavated fortress is a key source for Parthian art, language and administration.
Ancient World
Dead Sea Scrolls: Ancient Jewish Manuscripts from Qumran
The scrolls became the oldest known manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible and a unique window on Judaism in the Second Temple period.
Ancient World
Barabar Caves: India's Oldest Surviving Rock-Cut Caves
Mauryan rulers created polished rock-cut retreats for the Ajivika ascetics, setting the model for later Indian cave architecture.
Ancient World
Third Buddhist Council at Pataliputra Under Ashoka, c. 250 BC
According to Theravada tradition, dissenting monks were expelled, the Kathavatthu was compiled and missionaries were sent across South and Southeast Asia.
Ancient World
Lion Capital of Ashoka at Sarnath: India's National Emblem
A polished sandstone pillar capital commemorating the Buddha's first sermon survived in fragments, was excavated in 1905 and became the State Emblem of India.
Ancient World
Great Stupa of Sanchi: Ashoka's Monument and Its Carved Gateways
A brick Maurya stupa grew into one of the finest surviving early Buddhist monuments, whose gateways are masterpieces of ancient Indian narrative sculpture.